Airline flunks miserably when it comes to crisis management for injured pet

We thought United had learned its lesson when it comes to properly transporting people’s beloved property years ago from the whole, “United Breaks Guitars” debacle, and if not then surely after losing someone’s kid! Instead, the latest incident for the airline has a couple of furry friends being put in danger by poor handling and outright bad behavior from employees in an escalation of past mistakes.

Janet Sinclair thought she was taking good care of her dog Sedona and cat Alika when she paid the extra fees up for United’s “PetSafe” program, but as she waited on a Houston, Texas tarmac during a stop (in July!) she sat in horror as she took cell phone video of her dog’s crate sitting right there under the wing of the plane along with the other baggage. The result, at least according to Sinclair and her vet, was a three day stay in the intensive care unit of a pet hospital for Sedona, and a bill for nearly $3,000.

Sinclair said that both her animals had been cleared for travel by a vet in San Diego. The vet that treated Sedona discovered that the greyhound had suffered from heat stroke, urinary tract infection and liver problems. The vet said that the dog’s ordeal was a result of her mishandling during the United Airlines flight.

“We have no reason to believe that these medical problems were due to underlying disease, and we believe that these medical problems were secondary to hyperthermia that she suffered during her United Airlines flight,” the report states.

But a United Airlines investigation into the incident concluded that Sedona had a pre-existing health condition. Still, the airlines agreed to foot the bill —but only if Sinclair signed a non-disclosure agreement and promised not to talk to the press.

Pressured by the media, United did release the following statement:

“We are committed to ensuring safe and comfortable travel of all the pets that fly with us and regret that Sedona did not have a good experience. We offered to compensate Ms. Sinclair by fully reimbursing her vet bill, but unfortunately she declined to accept the terms of the agreement.”

What’s United thinking here?? A customer has video of her pets sitting in blistering heat for nearly 45 minutes when she had paid for them to be kept in an air conditioned area, and they’re refusing to cough up less than three grand unless she signs a gag order? Frankly, it’s a stupid move, and one that, judging from the amount of bad PR heading their direction, will wind up costing the airline more than $3,000 in fees from their crisis management and legal teams anyways.

According to reports, NBC News discovered signs of an issue that goes beyond this one incident as well. By law, airlines must report any pet injuries or deaths within 45 days of an incident, but while Sinclair’s ordeal happened this past July, as of late November the Department of Transportation had no record of her pet’s injuries.

Refusing to take responsibility for clearly documented mishandling, avoiding reporting to authorities, and bringing on unnecessary bad PR…you really didn’t learn anything from past crises, did you United?

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Jonathan L. Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. has more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of crisis management – crisis response, vulnerability assessment, planning, training and simulations.[Read more ...]

Erik Bernstein is a freelance writer and Bernstein Crisis Management's social media manager. He also edits Crisis Manager, a newsletter about crisis management.
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